The Cure of Souls: Common Concepts & Practices in Medicine & Spirituality

Recently it has become clear to a growing number of clinicians (such as Robert Woolfolk and John Sadler) that mental healthcare shares concepts and practices with various philosophical and spiritual traditions. This paper builds on this work, and explores the areas of overlap among psychology, psychiatry, and Christian spirituality. The result is an account of common concepts and practices in the “cure of souls.” First, the paper uses Stanley Jackson’s work to uncover the shared historical foundations of medical and spiritual conceptions of health and wellbeing. Since medical perspectives of health and wellbeing emerge and eventually diverge from philosophical and religious conceptions, it is possible to note complementary perspectives in these traditions of thought. Moreover, it becomes clear that medical conceptions of health and wellbeing are not value-free—as many clinicians assume them to be—for a number of philosophical and religious values persist in their accounts. The difference, therefore, between medical and spiritual conceptions of health and wellbeing is in terms of the kinds of values utilized—and their conscious and explicit role—rather than the presence of facts in one (medicine) and values in another (spirituality). If this is true, it is desirable not only to demonstrate the ways in which medical and spiritual perspectives can complement one another, but also to develop accounts of health and wellbeing that integrate insights from both traditions of thought. Second, the paper highlights commonalities in the methods and practices that spirituality, psychology, and psychiatry use to promote health and wellbeing. Once again, Stanley Jackson provides the historical development of methods and practices of caring for the soul. Building on this history, I briefly compare and contrast the methods theologian Kenneth Kirk, psychologist Robert Woolfolk, and psychiatrist John Sadler recommend to promote spiritual and mental health. Both spiritual and medical traditions direct the mind to reflect on ideas that promote healing, provide concrete suggestions to modify daily behavior, and encourage conversing with a wise counselor (either a spiritual director or a therapist). In these respects, the methods of the Christian “cure of souls” are paralleled in contemporary therapeutic practices, such as cognitive behavior therapy. This paper’s historical perspective suggests that medicine and spirituality share foundational concepts and practices that promote mental health. Consequently, it is a mistake to make a strong bifurcation of medicine and spirituality, and to view these traditions as conflicting or having little to do with one another. Instead of this bifurcation, it is better to identify the concepts and practices these traditions share—along with how they differ—and the potential ways in which these traditions can be integrated. After all, divergent terminologies and conceptual schemes need not obscure common concepts and practices that can undergird collaborative methods of care.